Ruby was at the psychologist's
clinic.
"I always see a cat in my
bookshelf," she said decisively.
"You must believe me. My
husband doesn't."
The psychologist nodded.
"And then what happens? Is
it a real cat? Have you touched it?"
 |
| Photo Prompt- Dale Rogerson |
Kipling said he kept six honest serving men-
With names- What, Why, How, Where, Who, When!
Seeing the present world’s grave situation now,
I remember the six & ask these Qs anyhow-
Why do we do all what we passionately do?
Why do we get the ideas? Have any clue?
Who decides that a country has to go to war?
Who makes the military tanks & troops go far?
 |
| Source: Forbes |
Today, our relative and neighbor shared an important document with me via WhatsApp.
He asked to check if my family’s names were there in the “Directory”
– actually the “Voters' list” pertaining to our ward & locality.
The document was 257 pages and I felt it would be pretty
challenging to fish out our names.
Many thoughts crossed my mind and I learned some lessons too in
my quest to search.
First things first.
I first thought- Is this the correct list?
Assuming that our relative, who has political affiliation, knows
better and thus he has shared, I confidently started searching in the “Names” column.
My strategy was- Search for “Sabat” in the list.
There are a few surnames ending with “t” in Odia language viz.
Rout, Mohanty…
The search was on for “Sabat”.
As I scrolled pages after pages, I realized that so many people
are there in my locality, and hence in the list.
I admired the neat work of all our Govt officials and teachers, who
had sincerely undertaken the Census study and enumeration, and had
painstakingly documented particulars.
I felt technically challenged while handling the document in my
mobile phone. I did not know how to use Control+F- that is used to find
something in Word file while using the computer.
It came to my mind- Had I known how to find, searching would
have been easy and I would not have to go through the grind!
Names were listed along with relation and age and also the Voter Id Card details. There were 9 columns in all! There is so much data about us in the public space!
Some days ago, I received a phone call from a "PNB Metlife Insurance" agent.
The voice can be found everywhere- over loudspeaker, on the radio, in the movie-songs, at the temple... The voice is still around and will remain so for generations, but the artist has breathed her last today.
The 'Nightingale of India', Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, will be missed.
God had gifted her with so much talent and such a wonderful and melodious voice that was capable of doing justice to any and ever song.
Old to new, children or youth, she has been the voice for many.
On
Saraswati Puja 2022, the writer, Anita, felt blessed as she sat at her desk
invoking Maa Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of knowledge, speech, wisdom, and
learning.
 |
| Maa Saraswati, Pattachitra- art of Odisha |
A fair beautiful woman, radiating beauty, holding a Veena... the face of her mother always came in front of Anita’s eyes whenever she thought of Maa Saraswati. Her mother’s Sitar was in its place, but the Sitar-player was no longer there...
Her mother
embodied the arts and learning with such finesse! She was an accomplished
singer and Sitar-player, and was so talented that she could play any and every
musical instrument! A voracious reader and a gifted writer, she pushed her
children and others to pursue the higher ideals.
The focus-light
was on memories.
-*-
Anita
remembered all the encouragement from her mother – words that had set the
foundation for her writing journey:
“You must
write a poem on this theme!”
“A journal/edition
will be published- you write!”
“I have
ordered/bought books and subscribed to magazines- you read and write!”
“Keep
participating!”
“Do your
best!”...
Anita felt lucky.
Chhapan Bhog Sweets - Launch at Bengaluru* - Press Meet Event held on 4/2/2022
Popular Bhubaneswar-based sweets store, Shri Chhapan Bhog Sweets- Pride of Odisha, has set up their first branch in Bengaluru. This is their first unit outside Odisha. The operations of their online cloud kitchen will commence from the auspicious occasion of Saraswati Puja that is tomorrow (5/2/2022). This is the sincere initiative of the Directors– Shri Satyabrat Mohanty, who has more than two decades of experience managing the original Chhapan Bhog at Jayadev Vihar, Bhubaneswar; and senior journalist cum food-expert, Shri Bhakta Tripathy.
The two food-entrepreneurs, Mohanty and Tripathy stated that they intend to present the choicest Odia vegetarian foods without onion and garlic for Prabasi Odias and for the benefit of the next generation. Odisha is the place of origin of many Chhena-based desserts like Rasagola, Chhenapoda, Rasabali, Chhenagaja, Chhenajhilli etc. ‘Odisha Rasagola’ has earned the GI Tag in 2019. Apart from these there are many traditional Odia dishes that deserve promotion.
10 well-trained dedicated staff have been flown in from Bhubaneswar and have been settled in Bengaluru for delivering the authentic Odia food experience by Chhapan Bhog at Bengaluru. Their team plans to set up more units in Bengaluru to cater to the entire city. They have tied up with online food-delivery partners and are also coming up with a Mobile App that will help customers to place orders for the Odia foods being offered. Chhapan Bhog also plans to launch branches in other cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurugram, and Hyderabad shortly.
Bengaluru city has lakhs of Odias. The population of Odias in Bengaluru is greater than those settled in Bhubaneswar. There is a lot of scope for traditional Odia specialties. The Odias of Bengaluru are also very enthused to welcome Chhapan Bhog that is known for its high quality and standard food products, including millet-based packaged foods.
Today’s event was attended by several eminent Odias and citizens of Bengaluru- including Surya Mohapatra, Global Head, WIPRO; Pranab Pani, entrepreneur; Santosh Kumar Acharya, casting director, Bollywood; Aditya Padhi, software engineer; Dr. Manoj Bal, entrepreneur; Sanjeeb Das, hotelier; Subrat Kumar Acharya; hotelier; Divyashree, international top model; and many others. Mr. Tejas, founder of GITagged store, also attended. Dr. Anita Sabat, researcher & culturist, delivered the vote of thanks.
After the press meet,
Odia treats like Rasagola, Chhenapoda, Rasabali, Chhenajhilli etc were served. Guests also received a framed image of Suna Besha of Shree Jagannatha.
Bengaluru Customers based at Whitefield or at a distance of eight kilometres from Whitefield can order authentic Odia dishes from Swiggy/Zomato from 5 February 11 AM onwards.
The annual Budget session in India (and in other parts of the globe too) is keenly awaited, analyzed, and discussed. Many eager eyes are glued to the screens. Experts and media, sharing the views of all categories, are consulted and represented. Popular newspapers, especially business dailies, are referred and quoted.
Let us take a leading financial daily, The Economic Times (ET), for example. ET has published many articles about the Budget. Many non-subscribers also purchase copies of the newspapers to better understand the Budget.
Even the quotes used by the Finance Minister in her Budget speech find discussion-
In her shortest-ever Budget speech, Nirmala
Sitharaman invokes ‘Mahabharata’, says tax collection in line with ‘dharma’ :
While the current Budget’s speech quote references are written about, past Budget quotes are also shared as has been done in the news reports published this year.
She knew the storm was approaching.
She had no
decent place to stay.
She could
do nothing but hope for the best.
She had to wait
for the storm to pass.
While
shutting the windows of his plush apartment, he saw her.
 |
| Photo Prompt- Nama Yehuda |
There is an Odia saying
that translated into English means- “What the mind thinks/wishes, it may
receive the same.”
Today,
I have ample reasons to be grateful, rejoice and celebrate wish fulfilment.
It
was Budget Day and I have been sincerely wishing that our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitaraman,
would wear an Odisha Handloom Saree while presenting the budget!
Lo and behold! Imagine my surprise, pride, and happiness to see Madam dressed in one!
Nirmala
Madam has often stated her love for handlooms, and she boasts of a great Saree
collection– many of which are the handlooms of Odisha. She had worn a
Sambalpuri Bandha Saree for her first day as Finance Minister.
Do
you know the name of the Saree worn by Nirmala Ma'am today for the #Budget2022
speech?
It
is a type of Odisha Handloom. But, what is the name of the type of Saree?
It
is a Bomkai Saree with Sambalpuri Bandha motifs on aanchal.
